Reaching New Heights in English and Writing Proficiency

To me, the word goal sounds hard and challenging. Something I do not want to do because I know it’s going to take time and dedication. The easier option would be to just sit in bed all day with some chips and not accomplish anything. As humans though, our natural instinct is to keep getting better at something and be the best we can be. There are two types of people in this world, the ones who are super devoted to achieving their goal and the ones who take much longer to be motivated to even make a goal. We can’t aim for another goal if we haven’t accomplished our first one. As we mature and grow as humans, so do our goals. When we are young, what is the question we would get asked most? “What would you like to be when you grow up?” To shorten this, what is our goal in life?

Being only kids, we don’t think about this too hard. My answer was that because I loved animals so much and had such a connection with them, it was obvious I would be veteranarian. My goal I’d have to work towards was to be a veteranarian. I am not going to lie and say that I am the best at English, but I am certainly not the worst. I have had a huge issue with my writing lately where I feel that it is too plain and immature. I am aware I have a very short attention span and that I just skip from topic to topic, but when it started affecting my writing, it was a big problem. Not knowing where to put commas is also a problem I need to fix. I always either put too many or too little and in the wrong spots. But the biggest goal of mine is to make my writing more creative. I would say that I want to make my writing more original, but let's get realistic here. There are more than 7 billion people in this world and more than half of them write, so writing an original piece will almost be impossible. To give you a little more context would be good, right?

Well, getting off topic could mean a lot of things just like getting distracted because I'm bored. Actually, when I'm thinking or writing, random things pop up in my brain and I just say them. Not because I’m bored but my brain feels the need to get everything out in a small amount of time, like I can’t just take my time to say something. I get it, I am a very anxious person and this even happens when I am storytelling. The other day, I was telling my friend about this movie I just watched and while I was talking about it, I noticed I was rushing through the whole thing feeling like if I didn’t get it out right then and there, I wouldn’t get the chance to later. Yikes, that got deep. I actually have no reason for it, that's just how my brain works. Getting off topic while I am writing, affects it in a huge negative way. I have been told by various peers that they have gotten confused reading my writing because there is just so much coming at them. For example, it’ll be like one sentence about tomatoes and another one about the moon. It is just too much too fast. I am only learning day by day to fix this and I’ll admit that I don’t have a perfect solution to fix this, but I do have some. Writing my own outline is a good idea that I have been experimenting with it and it has helped tremendously. The outline I get from teacher helps, but when I write my own, I can go at my own pace and use words I understand.

I am in 8th grade now and I can’t just start writing free like I did in 7th grade. I have to know my topic and have enough information to start. Even though diving right in may seem like a good idea to get your creative juices flowing, it always seems to get me off topic. My two final ideas to write focused is to know what structure I am doing and to use it. At first when you were teaching structures, I didn’t get it all. Obviously, when I started practicing them on my own, I finally understood them. I am now learning how to use them and have them benefit my writing. Writing needs structure. I didn’t learn that until 7th grade and I actually went in depth learning about it this year. Just writing whatever you want might cut it for elementary, but not further than that. Another word for structure is construction, form, or whatever you want to call it. Structure to me is the way you organize or plan to do something. Well, when I was in 4th grade, I didn’t really know what a structure was. Usually, Id jump two feet into something and not think twice about it. When you’re a 4th grader, negativity isn’t really in your vocabulary. This time though, it was different. It was the middle of the year and we got assigned an essay. I can’t remember what it was about, but I think it was about having a pet monster or something. I spent all of my waking time trying to make this essay so descriptive and creative. When I finished, I felt so proud that I read it to my siblings. I turned it in with an ear to ear smile. I got my grade the week after and I had never been more disappointed. A sharp 87%. I was never one to dwell on my grades. I could get a C and just study more and tell myself I need to try harder. But I put so much effort into this paper and I got an 87. Not a 90, not a 100, an 87. I sat the rest of the day, blank faced, and ashamed. What went wrong? Was my writing not creative enough? I couldn’t understand it even though I tried to my best ability. I didn’t know why it affected me so much, but every essay after that, I never felt confident. It was always the same doom and gloom me about my writing.

Entering 5th grade made me realize that I was being dumb. Yeah, it's sad when you put so much effort into something and don’t get the grade you wanted. Well, writing isn’t something you can just learn and pick up write away like math. All great writers are great because they practice and it takes time. It takes time to be proud and confident in your writing. To get there, you have to set goals and be determined to make them. If I ever wanted to succeed in my writing, I needed to set goals. The only way to succeed is to accomplish those goals and that’s what I’m planning to do this unit. 130 million is a pretty big number. That is the number of books over time that have been published. If I can’t even make an original sentence that no one has ever thought of before, how could someone make an original book? I guess that's where creativity comes in. I'm not going to pretend that everyone is creative because that is not true. I mean, everyone is creative in their own special way. Some more creative than others though. I have never been an artistic or creative person, I've always just been me. My brother on the other hand is one of the most creative people I know. His brain just seems to see think of a lot different things while mine looks at things differently. Hard to understand? It’s harder to explain. “It's impossible to explain creativity. ” I don’t know who says this quote, I just found it online. Creativity is one of those words everyone understands and knows, but can’t explain what it is. You can say that it is what gives our brain an escape from reality.

Lack of creativity is my biggest problem in writing. I always write the same way and it’s like my brain is tied to a leash and cant explore the world of creativity. It can't explore new ways to make my writing creative. Books are a way that my brain can explore new places and learn about all types of writing, not just limit me to my own. Constantly doing something and not being good at it can be terrible. It's important for us to learn how to tie our shoes because we will constantly be doing it our entire lives. We will always be writing and talking all our lives. I constantly need creativity. Think of your favorite book or movie, it happened because of one person’s creativity. Creativity is kinda what makes humans human. Dogs don’t have creativity, so I think they don’t. I don’t think you can get better at being creative in general, it comes naturally. You can get creative resources for your writings though. Everyone and everything around you has contributed in some way to the person you have become. This unit, I want my brain to discover new ways to write and I guess, just spice things up a bit. Everything in our lives up to this point has been an achievement. Think of it, when we were born we didn’t know how to do anything. We didn’t know how to walk, run, think, or even talk. We have learned it all. So what happens when what we need to know more things. It’s hard when people expect more complicated things from you.

We achieve goals by learning or practicing something depending on what your goal is. I have a lot of hope that all the sample writings and all the new writing structures we’re going to learn this year is going to help expand my creativity. I would’ve never thought of inventing a microwave, but someone did and that triggered more people’s minds. Creativity is like a chain reaction, I just need that chain reaction to hit me hard. Finding new ways to write is going to benefit my writing because my reader is going to read my writing and actually enjoy it. I haven’t known you (Mr. Cheney) long enough to see what type of writer you are but from what I’ve read, you’re really good. Of course, there is no standard of what a good writer should be. In your own opinion, you get to decide what a good writer is. To me, a good writer really vocalizes and shows why they are writing. What is the purpose of this? If you just keep going and never get to the point, you’re just wasting time. I need to show emotion in my writing more and I plan to achieve this by picking up more figurative language. I believe that using big words in writing doesn’t automatically make it sound smart and good, it’s the way you use simple words does.

Anyone can make something if they have the right tools, it’s simple. Try making something with a little amount of simple tools. Which one is more impressive? Making something with simple tools and turning it into something amazing. Just like writing, it’s amazing what you can do with pen and paper. My short attention span doesn’t have to be a problem for me if I can achieve my goal. I will stay focused by making outlines and knowing enough information about what I’m writing instead of jumping right in. I am no longer in 7th grade, I need to stop making 7th grade essays. I assume you’ll be teaching about grammar so I plan to excel in that. Putting commas in random places will most likely confuse the reader and I don’t want to do that, I want to make the reader want more. I want them to enjoy what they’re writing and feel like they can easily imagine what they’re reading. Goals take time and I am willing to trust the process of mine. I know with the help of this English class, I will be on the road to make my writing creative and orginal. “It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it”.